Net veins or parallel veins?
Look closely at the veins in leaves from common Nepali plants, check their roots too, and sort them into reticulate and parallel venation.
Core concept
In short: Look at the veins in leaves: a net or straight lines, and what that says about the roots.
Leaves with a network of veins (reticulate) usually belong to plants with tap roots; leaves with parallel veins usually belong to plants with fibrous roots
Topic: Plants
Veins are the thin lines in a leaf. They carry water to the leaf and food away from it, and they support the leaf like a frame. In reticulate venation the veins branch again and again to form a net, as in a mango or peepal leaf. In parallel venation the veins run side by side from the base to the tip, as in a maize or rice leaf. Plants with net-veined leaves usually have a tap root and two seed leaves (dicots); plants with parallel-veined leaves usually have fibrous roots and one seed leaf (monocots).
What you will learn
- Observe the veins of leaves with a hand lens.
- Classify leaves as reticulate or parallel veined.
- Link leaf venation to the type of root.
Before you start
- Know the parts of a plant.
Materials
- Fresh leaves of mango, peepal, guava, hibiscus, rose, tulsi, maize, rice, wheat, bamboo, banana and grass
Equipment
- Hand lens
Procedure
- Choose a leaf card and look at the pattern of its veins, holding it up to the light.
- Check what kind of root the plant has.
- Place each card in the reticulate or parallel group.